Warriors
by XYLag
Summary: After being rescued from prison Annie and her comrades decide to pull Eren to their side as an ally to help them achieve their goals.
1. Rescue

Reiner and Berthold made their way through the empty streets, it was still early, and the sun was just rising, both of their faces hidden under the cloaks the got from one of Reiner's spies inside the Military Police. They got a huge shock when they learned several weeks ago that Annie had been caught, they expected that if she failed capturing Eren she would at least manage to escape. But both of them felt relieved learning that she trapped herself inside a crystal. Reiner signaled his partner to stop as a patrol moved from their path. They were currently planning on getting Annie out of the dungeon. Plan in which they spent a considerable amount to work out nicely so they can try for the last time to get Eren on their way out.

They kept walking casually, until they reached the large building that was the dungeon. Just as his contact said, the guards were changing shifts, so they entered easily to the fortress, heading next to the actual dungeon. The sun was already up by then, and it was a rather hot day, making it uncomfortable to keep the hoods up as they walked through the outside of the fortress.

Reiner pushed the door and stepped inside, looking carefully to the hallway in front of him, being lit by torches on the walls, he made a signal and they resumed their walking.

"I don't thing this is such a good idea." Bert whispered looking back.

"No going back now." He replied casually. "We get Annie, and then Eren before the expedition leaves."

There was no point in arguing, so Bert simply nodded and followed the blonde.

With a sigh, Reiner pulled out a piece of paper form under his cloak, a map, given to him by his mole, signaling the way to reach Annie's cell, they took a left and continued.

The place was dark, the light of the torches didn't seemed to illuminate the corridors, all they could see in front of them was dark and small lights on the sides. With another quick look they turned right and got down some stairs into an even darker section.

"This seems to be the maximum security cells." Reiner said looking at the labels on the doors.

Curiously the names of the prisoners were marked on the doors. Making it easier to find her cell.

It wasn't' long before they found the right door, they looked at the heavy metal door as Bert pulled out two wires and knelt in front of the door as he tried to force the lock open.

"Didn't knew you could pick a lock." Reiner commented as he kept watch.

"I saw Sasha doing it once…to get a loaf of meat." He chuckled as he spun the wires successfully opening the lock. "There."

The door made no noise as it was pushed, inside there were four torches one on each wall, illuminating a large green crystal being help in place by chains and ropes.

Berthold closed the door behind them as he continued to inspect the small cell.

"Now what? We can't just carry the crystal back."

"I think I can get her out." Reiner said with a serious expression.

"Are you going to shift?" Berthold asked nervously.

Reiner let out a small chuckle. "It would be of no use, her crystallization is harder than my titan form skin. No. Maybe if I can reach her, she can get out herself."

Berthold looked confused as he heard his words. He wasn't sure of what he was talking about but told him to do whatever he intended to do.

The blonde took a deep breath as he pressed his hand against the cold crystal he closed him eyes as he concentrated, his arm started to emit vapor as he pressed his palm harder into the crystal.

Several minutes passed as Berthold looked at his partner do, whatever he was doing, he let out a sigh, as it appeared to not be working, even tough he wasn't sure what "it" was. But something caught his attention. A small cracking sound; he turned his attention to the crystal, as a small crack appeared around Reiner's hand, growing up and down seemly cutting the crystal in two.

Before they even knew it the crystal was shattered into pieces, letting Annie fall to her knees on the ground coughing for air. Both of them walked towards her and helped her up.

Annie raised her head, looking around with her eyes half closed, unlit they fixated on her partners. She let out a sight before standing by herself and pushing a bang of hair out of her face.

"So, what's the plan?"

* * *

**I got a nice idea for a SnK story, and here is the...draft. Depending on the response I'll keep writing or leave it on the corner of my unfinished/unpublished stories.**

**Anyways, hope you like it.**

**Any comments are welcome as long as they are constructive.**

**Also I haven't been able to work on my Naruto Story, you know real life can keep you very busy, but I'm working on it, hope I can finish it soon.**

**Have a nice day. See ya!**

**-XYLag**


	2. Kidnap and Escape

Annie pulled herself up. Slowly gathering the event that had happened before she crystalized herself. She lost? That didn't seem right. But it had to be true. She removed a bang of hair from her face and looked over to his companions.

"So…what's the plan?" she said softly, and calmly.

"We're getting out of here…" Reiner said walking towards the door. "And we're going to get Eren on the way out." He finished with a smile.

"And how are we going to do that exactly?" she said leaning against the wall grabbing her head. Bert tried to help her, but she just pushed him to the side as she regained her posture. "Well?"

"We came up with a plan." Berthold said.

"We should get going. I'll explain on the way out." Reiner said opening the door and handing Annie a cloak with the Military Police insignia, just like theirs. They closed the door and locked it before getting out. Reiner explained how his contact inside the Military Police made possible her rescue, and that he was going to help them get out.

Annie wasn't so sure about the plan, and besides, wasn't it strange that with her being in prison, there was so little security? Berthold explained that it was still early, and the guards were changing shifts and they needed to hurry. They were almost out when a guard walked through the main entrance, almost bumping into them.

"Be careful. What are you guys doing here? Wait…is that. Leonha-" the words choked on his throat as a knife pierced his chest. A woman pushed the limp body to the side out of sight from everyone that might pass through. She had her face covered, just like them, and her face was covered by a piece of cloth.

"Master Braun." She said uncovering her face and doing a small bow. She had long, messy brown hair and dark eyes and about Reiner's height.

"Dammit Vera. You scared the shit out of me." Reiner said with a sigh.

She laughed as she cleaned her knife, a beautiful curved knife, with a blue glow. She put it away under her cloak as she addressed to them.

"We need to move. It won't be long before they find him. If you still want to capture the coordinate I suggest we move."

All of them got outside, positioning them selves as to not to attract too much attention, and at the same time keep Annie covered. They moved slowly until the fort was out of sight, from there they walked to the rendezvous point, from where they were supposed to leave.

They used their 3D gear to get to a roof, from where they could see the Scouting Legion gathering on the plaza just beside the wall.

"You still haven't told me how you're planning to get Eren." Annie said sitting in a small shade provided by a chimney.

"I'm going to talk to him." Reiner said seriously. "I'll try to explain him, maybe he'll come to his senses."

Annie rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. Eren "Kill all the Titans" Jaeger is going to listen to you. And what if he shifts? What then?"

Reiner stood in silence with a thoughtful look on his face. "Then we'll have no choice but to fight."

Annie looked at the Scouts gathering, it made her sick on her stomach just to think that twice those people captured her. She took a deep breath to calm herself down, asking what was her role on the plan. She wasn't amused when Berthold told her that they agreed on her to be the support.

"I refuse." She said challenging.

"We don't have time for this Annie. You were just released from the crystal. You're in con condition to fight a completely fresh Jaeger. If it comes to that I'll give you a sign, then you can interfere."

Reluctantly Annie agreed; she knew they were right. In fact she was lucky she was still able to walk after being in the crystal for that amount of time.

Reiner and Berthold changed their cloaks for the ones of the Scouting Legion and drooped from the roof and headed towards the plaza. They started to look around for Eren it was like searching for a needle in a haystack, everyone with the same outfit. Until they saw him, away from everyone, sitting on a crate besides the street. It was perfect. They walked towards him Reiner could feel his heart pounding; it was all or nothing, the moment of truth.

"Hey Eren." He said with a smile. Making him raise his head to look at them.

"Hello guys didn't saw you this morning."

"We woke up early to go on an early jog." Berthold said chuckling nervously. Which thankfully passed unnoticed by Eren.

"We kind of need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what is it?"

Reiner took another deep breath and looked at him with a serious look.

"I'm the Armored Titan, and Berthold is the Colossal Titan."

"What?" was all Eren mumbled. "What are you talking about?"

"We are responsible for the attack five years ago. And we want you to come with us. We would prefer to avoid any troubles, but we will do whatever is necessary." Reiner said reaching for his blades.

Neither Berthold nor Reiner had time to react as Mikasa jumped from behind Eren and slashed them, Reiner raised his arm on instinct, but it was easily cut off by the sharp blade and fell to the ground. Berthold had a large cut on his chest. It took only one look at each other to know what they needed to do.

There was a flash and an explosion, before in front of them stood the Armored Titan and the top half of the Colossal Titan.

Reiner leaned forwards to grab Eren, he was about to catch him, when another flash went off. In front of him stood Eren's titan form. With a loud roar he charged Reiner.

* * *

"Guess things didn't went as planned." Vera said twirling her knife around her finger.

"I told them." Annie said looking at the titans stand on the plaza. "I guess now I just have to wait."

…

Eren charged at Reiner and punched him right on the face, Reiner stood unmoved as his fist was destroyed. He grabbed him and spun him around, throwing him towards the wall, slamming him against it.

The soldiers around Reiner scattered as he walked towards Eren.

"Let's see if you've improved anything Eren."

He raised his fist to hit him on the head but Eren rolled out of the way he charged again as he unleashed a flurry of punches. Reiner grabbed his head and kneed him on the face, and hit him repeatedly before knocking him back to the ground.

"You haven't gotten any better." Reiner though with a sight, preparing for hi next attack.

Berthold swept his massive arms around to keep the soldiers from getting to Reiner and Eren, and started to release bursts of hot vapor to anyone that got to close to him.

Before Riener could land his punch, Eren punched him hard on the jaw, this time sending him back from the impact. He felt his jaw crumble. How? His skin was impenetrable. He looked at Eren and examined him slowly. What was that on his arm? Was his arm…armored? Reiner laughed as he got up his cracked skin slowly regenerating and hardening.

"I guess you did improve. Now let's see what you got."

Reiner placed one foot in front of the other as he softened his armor and charged at Eren. Sacrificing protection over speed in an attempt to crush him into the wall.

He did reach him wrapping his arms around his lower back and crushing him against the wall, his arms started to tighten around him.

Eren could feel the Reiner's strength splitting his body in two. He punched him on the face, slowly cracking his armor, but it wasn't enough, focusing, Eren's face hardened and head butted Reiner cracking his face in two, forcing him to release his lock on him. Taking the chance Eren grabbed his arm and rolled him over him into the ground, holding him into submission as he continued to pull his arm slowly cracking his shoulder joint.

Reiner felt himself on a tight spot; he knew he had to get out before he ripped his arm from his body; his mouth plate opened as he release a loud roar, gathering all his strength he swung his arm along with Eren, who still help his arm tightly. There was a loud explosion that Reiner took as a chance to slip his arm out of his hold while he distracted and positioned himself on top of him, as he continued to punch him. Eren's body armored completely as to repel Reiner's punches. Reiner grabbed him from the shoulders and rolled, throwing him away.

Eren rolled and stood after being thrown, the ground started to shake, as he saw Reiner position himself in front of the wall's gate. He was going to stepp in when he noticed the shaking wasn't from Reiner. He turned only in time to see Annie's titan form perform a kick straight to his face, he hardened his head an neck, but it was no opposition to her crystallization, without any problem Annie severed Eren's head and knelt before him as she opened her mouth and bit his nape pulling out Eren's real body as his titan form steamed and melted away.

Reiner hardened his joints and charged the gate at full speed; on his back Vera was already attached to him waiting for the impact. He impacted the gate getting past it as if it was nothing, behind him the colossal released a larger burst of vapor as Berthold surfaced from the nape and used his 3D Gear to attach himself to Annie. He climbed to her shoulder, using his wires and her hair to keep himself steady as she ran. She only slowed down when the armored titan started to melt away, signaling that Reiner was out of the body, he and Vera used their 3D gear to attach themselves to Annie's other shoulder.

Reiner looked back at the destroyed gate. Hoping that they could get enough advantage before they went after them. Because he was sure, they were going to go after them. But for now, everything went somewhat according to plan.

A smile invaded his face as they moved through the plain; they were free, and they were going home.

* * *

**Not to long, but I had the idea all day long and decided to write it before I forgot.**

**Enjoy :3**


	3. Heritage

The trees grew bigger as the came closer to the forest, huge trees, tall enough to be safe from the titans on the floor.

Annie stopped near a particularly thicker one; she pulled Eren out from her mouth and carefully placed him near Reiner, who picked him up and used his gear to climb up the tree. As Annie started to emerge from her titan's from neck everyone used their 3D gear to get higher up the tree, as Annie's form melted she did the same, falling to her knees as soon as she reached the giant branch, returning the contents of her stomach, which was nothing but saliva and bile.

She felt her head spin, as she tried to stand back up, only to stumble and fall on her back. Vera helped her get into sitting position, leaning on the tree and offered some water, which she took slowly. Taking brief sips she drank, using her free hand to remove the hair from her face. Thanking her she got back up and walked to where his companions were.

"I didn't know you were into that." She said raising an eyebrow as he saw Reiner tying Eren's arms and legs."

"Funny." He replied rolling his eyes. "But now we need to figure out what to do next."

"Well, they are going to send a party after us to retrieve him. That's for sure." Berthold said placing Eren in sitting position near them.

"How are you doing?" Reiner asked

"I'm fine. Just tired." Annie replied looking at the plains in front of her.

"Well, get some rest then, if they do come after us, you'll have to shift again." He told her scratching his eyebrow. Earning a glare from the blonde girl.

He let out a sigh, feeling the piercing gaze on his neck.

"You're the most versatile of us. Now get some rest. We'll move after the sun goes down. That gives us a lot of time to rest and prepare."

…

Eren opened his eyes, letting out a groan by the light hitting his eyes, earning the attention of Reiner who was sitting next to him. Eren tried to move his arms, but he couldn't move them, the same went for his legs, consciousness slowly returned to him, as well as the memories of what had happened, his eyes shot open and examined his surroundings, noticing he was in a forest. He gritted his teeth as he saw Reiner, sitting calmly besides him.

"Calm down. We won't hurt you." Reiner said turning his attention to Eren, he could see genuine hatred on his eyes.

"You fucking traitors!" Eren yelled struggling to free himself from his bindings.

"We are not traitors." Reiner said with a serious expression. "We are warriors."

"Warriors? What are you talking about." Eren asked.

"We were sent to find you Eren. Do you remember your father?" he asked leaning forward.

"What about him?"

"Did he do something to you?"

Eren's face went blank for a moment. As he tried to figure out what he was talking about. But then it hit him.

"Yes…he… injected something to me. When I was young."

"So he did it." Annied said getting closer to them.

Eren's was shocked to see her there, after all she was supposed to be under the Military's supervision, trapped inside a crystal none the less, but again memories returned to him, the last thing he remember before awakening was getting kicked on the face.

"What do you mean with that?"

"Our families worked on the formula, my father tried to refined it, but he was never able to do it."

"Refine it?"

Annie rolled her eyes; she didn't liked talking about her father. "A while ago, and I'm talking at least three generations before us, they used the formula on themselves so they could turn into titans. But apparently it didn't work as they expected. They weren't able to turn, but…their sons were, and our parents, and then us. We are unfinished titans Eren, if we could get the formula, our full potential would be unlocked."

"I still don't get what it has to do with me."

Annie rubbed her temples in annoyance, he couldn't be that stupid.

"You're a first generation shifter, with the refined formula. In your blood is the potential for an entire new race."

"If you come with us, the elders can help you control your power, like they helped us. But, if we could retrieve the formula, no one has heard from Dr. Jaeger since the attack five years ago." Reiner intervened noticing how Annie started to get annoyed.

They looked at each other for several minutes, silence fell on them, and only the sound of the winds and leaves was around them, until Eren finally broke the silence.

"My father…gave me this key. He said that I would find the answers I needed on the basement of my home."

"Can you take us there?" Reiner asked.

"Guys. I hate to interrupt the story, but we are going to have company very soon." Vera said looking at the horizon as dust rose from the ground, looking closer the managed to see horses coming their way. It was the scouting legion. They stopped for too long, and allowed them to catch up. There were titans coming there were also titan coming from the side.

Using some small binoculars Reiner managed to see Christa riding towards them, by now he already knew her real name, thanks to Vera, who took the task of investigating the entire 104th platoon. Historia Reiss, daughter of one of the founders of the wall worshipers, curiously her family left their village shortly after receiving the formula, they never knew if they used it or not.

"We should get moving." Berhold said packing his stuff.

"No" Reiner said. "We need to get Christa. She could be one of us." He said looking at the scouting legion slowly making their way towards them.

"So, what's it going to be?" Annie asked cutting the ropes that held Eren's limbs, and standing tall in front of him. "Are you going to come with us and be with your kind? Or let them keep oppressing you until you fulfill your usefulness?

Eren grabbed his key and stared at it. All the answers were there. Was that what his father wanted? He took a deep breath, stood up and looked at Annie straight to the eyes.

"Let's go to my basement."

He probably didn't noticed, but a small smile formed on Annie's lips.


	4. Revenge and Delays

"So, what are you thinking?" Annie asked to his blonde companion, placing hand on her hip as she watched the riders get closer to their location.

"We need to stall them until the titans reach them." He said narrowing his eyes. "Can you shift again?"

She crossed her arms on her chest. "Do I have a choice?"

Reiner let out a small chuckle. "Like I said, you the most versatile of us." Before returning his gaze to the field in front of them.

"Why do have Vera do it? She can shift right?"

"No. I don't want her to reveal her shifting abilities until it is absolutely necessary." Reiner explained.

"I won't be able to hold them by myself."

"I know…I'm thinking."

"Well think faster."

"Why don't you two fight against each other?" Vera suggested pointing at Eren and Annie.

"I'm not following." Reiner said scratching his head.

Vera signaled them to get closer. "Eren, you're going to shift and run out of the forest towards them. Annie, you're going to follow him, and you're just going to stage a fight until the titans reach you. Then in any chance you get, either of you must get Christa, and bring her back. Is it clear?" Annie and Eren nodded before walking to the edge of the branch.

"After you." Annie said waving her hand motioning him to move.

Eren jumped and shifted on mid air, landing hard on the ground and looked back at Annie before starting to run.

Annie put on her ring, and was about to jumped when Berthold stopped her.

"What is it?" Annie asked.

"When we were attacked on Castle Utgard, Ymir shifted into a titan."

Annie's eyes widen, she hadn't heard that, well of course she hadn't, no one ever told her anything and she was trapped on a crystal at the time.

She took a moment to regain her composure. "What about it?"

"Do you remember out friend Berik?"

Of course she remembered him, those three used to be inseparable; he was the last one of them to be able to shift, and he always wanted to spar with her, she found it interesting how he would always come back, no matter how badly she humiliated him.

"Look I don't have time, so could you get to the point?"

"Ymir killed Berik." He stated with troubled face.

Annie stood in silence.

"I have no doubt that when you take Christa she will interfere. So I'm asking you, if you see an opportunity. Kill her."

Without a word the blonde girl turned around and jumped from the branch, pinching her thumb with the hidden blade on her ring, she shifted and landed on the ground running after Eren.

* * *

The Scouting Legion rode towards the forest, the teams on the left shot their red flares, signaling the presence of titans on the area forcing them to close the formation, due to the lack of trees or structures to use the 3D Gear.

The expedition, lead by Irvin Smith was making their way to the forest followed by Squad Leader Hanji on his left, and Levi on his right, who in turn had his team following him.

Mikasa was hoping that they could get Eren before they were too far away and were forced to turn back, the preoccupation on her face was quite obvious, Armin and Jean had tried to make her feel better since he had been taken that morning, even Christa gave it a shot in trying to cheer her up, all in vain. But now they were on their way, the mission was clear, retrieve Eren, and capture the kidnapers if possible.

A large explosion caught the attention of everyone, as well as heavy footsteps that started to get louder and stronger. Suddenly from the forest came out Eren on his titan form, as soon as he saw them he stopped completely and turned around, a few moments later Annie also appeared from the forest, charging Eren at full speed, hitting him on the face with full force.

Annie smiled slightly, as he wasn't prepared for a hit like that, if they were going to stage a fight, she was going to make it seem as real as possible.

Eren slowly picked himself up, barely dodging a kick that was heading to his head.

Annie used her peripheral vision to take a quick look of the titans; they were almost there, a few more minutes.

Eren tried to hit her; using her usual stance she redirected the blow, taking him off balance. Planting his feet on the ground in front of him and swung with his elbow; she easily dodged the hit and answered punching him on the torso several times before destroying his jaw with her elbow. Without too much thinking Eren wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her above himself, slamming her to the ground as his jaw steamed while it regenerated.

He looked around the titans were starting to scatter as they followed the legion. He charged at Annie only to be thrown effortlessly to the ground, in the direction the main body of the formation was, forcing them to break formation, some of the riders falling from their horses.

Eren still hadn't gotten the point; she wasn't going to go easy, she was going to force him to fight for real. A loud growl came out of Eren getting her attention, she turned, pleased to see him in stance. A smile formed briefly on her lips as she also got into stance.

"I've been away for what? Three weeks? let's see if you have improved." Annie though, crystalizing her right leg as she delivered a kick aimed to his head.

Eren took a step back, avoiding the kick, and threw himself forward, hardening his arm as he tried to hit her, Annie redirected the punch with her elbow and returned the attack with a punch to his face, her fist destroyed as it collided with hardened skin. Annie's eyes widened when she saw Eren's face covered in hardened skin, he head-butted her, cracking her forehead, and kicked her on the chest sending her to the ground. He immediately jumped on top of her and hit her repeatedly on her face as she tried to cover herself, destroying her nose and sinking half of her face with the punches.

She could hear the cheers from the surrounding soldiers, he was going to far, they had to make it believable, not render the other unable to fight, wrapping her arm below his armpit and the other one over his neck, locking her hands together on his back. Putting more force on the lock the more her resisted, slowly sliding her body until she was holding him face up wrapping her legs on his torso.

Annie freed him from the lock when she felt the pinch of a wire on her neck, kicking him off her and rolling on the ground, crushing the soldier under her body as he reeled towards her. Another soldier reeled towards her, but he was aiming to her foot. She did not react in time as the tendons on her heel were cut, forcing her into a crouching position.

She cursed under her breath, damn that Eren, he got too carried away and now she was suffering for it.

She didn't had time to react as a small titan started gnawing at her injured leg, she grabbed him form the head and squeezed it, before punching it while on the ground to avoid it regenerated.

Dammit, now the titans had reached them and she wasn't regenerating as fast as she would like, focusing on regenerating her leg she kept defending herself form the soldiers and the smaller titans.

Another titan headed her way, but it was nothing she couldn't handle, crystalizing her fist she punched right through the titan's neck, killing it instantly and getting up just in time to avoid a 15-meter titan heading her way, fortunately he seemed to ignore her.

" A deviant…" she though scanning the new battleground."

It wasn't long before the titans started to prey on the soldiers that fell from the horses. Annie killed several titans while she moved through the battlefield. She could feel how she was weakening; her wounds were not healing as well as she though.

Annie gave Eren a brief look, he was holding his own against three 5-meter titans, she felt a slight pinch on her neck, turning her head she saw a soldier reeling in towards her, lifting her hand she grabbed him and squeezed him, turning him into a bloody pulp.

She turned again; looking at the soldiers on the ground as they maneuvered around the titans and she saw Christa, she and her companions took down the 15-meter deviant she saw,

Annie made her way towards them, a 7-meter rushed towards her, getting into her usual stance she delivered a kick on the head, sending it flying several meters away and stomping his nape several times to be sure he stayed dead for good before following her target, two of the soldier accompanying Christa targeted her.

Both of them reeled towards her at the same time towards her neck. She spun her body making them spin around uncontrollably, she grabbed the wires, one with each hand, and slammed the soldiers on the ground, crushing their bodies with the impact.

Ignoring the titans that were now feasting on the soldiers she kneeled besides the petite blonde looking at her with her blue eyes.

Christa, frozen by terror, was unable to move as Annie carefully picked her up and placed her inside her mouth.

"Christa!" Ymir yelled as she rushed to where she was. Tightening the grip on her blades she cut her hand, and with a loud band and a blinding light Ymir's form appeared and charged at Annie.

With a quick movement Ymir jumped at Annie attempting to claw her face, she was saved only because of her quick reaction, ducking under the small titan and turning to kick her, but the kick was avoided when she moved out of the way.

"So this if your titan form…" Annie though, examining her opponent closely. "Is this the form you had when you killed our friend?"

Ymir moved closer to her enemy and slashed her leg piercing her skin with her claws, and avoiding a kick headed her way. Annie gritted her teeth. She was too fast, and she lost too much energy on her mock fight.

Annie avoided the fast slashes of Ymir as she moved backwards, she was surprised by the agility she had, and she seemed to be dancing as she spun around towards her.

"Small and fast." She though bitterly, following the quick movements with her eyes.

Ymir surprisingly jumped towards her, taking her off guard as she climbed and clawed her way around her body, she made her way to her back and started clawing her neck, Annie was saved only because she managed to crystalize her neck before the claw fell on her.

"You fucking little…" Annie though, trying to shake her off her back.

That didn't stop the enraged shifter, she tore apart her back and shoulders with her long claws, biting off parts of her skin, and making deep steaming cuts on Annie's body.

Grabbing her golden hair, she pulled it back, revealing her throat, Annie tried to grab her, but she couldn't as she moved while pulling her hair.

Ymir raised her arm ready to cut off her head, Annie's eyes widened as she waited for the strike to fall, but was saved, surprisingly by Eren, when he literally tore Ymir from her, grabbing her from the hair and slamming her hard on the ground, without giving her any chance to react he stomped her arms and legs, before giving Annie a brief look.

Everyone around that managed to see were stunned by the actions of their supposed comrade, especially his fellow friends from the 104th.

Eren turned around and started to run, heading for the forest.

Annie stood over Ymir's broken and steaming form, looking at her with bright blue eyes.

"I wonder… were you conscious when you killed him?" She though. "I guess now I'll never know."

Raising her feet she stomped her neck several times, her body starting to steam as the skin melted away, leaving only bones that soon started to crumble.

Annie looked at Eren who was already entering the forest and followed him running as fast as she could.

She turned her head to be sure they weren't followed, most of the titans had been killed, but even then, they had taken serious injuries and would not be able to follow them for a while.

Both Eren and Annie disappeared on the forest.

* * *

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

They had been going on for hours now, it had gotten dark, and a storm got loose, soaking them under the heavy rain, the dark land seemed eternal as Annie carried everyone on her shoulder, she was unbelievable tired, she had never stayed in her titan form for so long, she could feel her strength leaving her, though her face did not showed it. She started to slow down while looking for a place to stop and rest.

"Annie!" Berthold said getting her attention as she slowly came to a complete halt.

"There seems to be a town over there." He said pointing a bit forward. Indeed it seemed like it. Any town located on that side of the wall would most likely be empty, of humans, at least.

Reaching the town she placed her hand near her shoulder as everyone jumped on it. And she knelt to allow them to get down without using any gas from their tanks and taking Christa out of her mouth, she was covered in saliva and was unconscious, she wasn't sure how, but her saliva seemed to have some sort on anesthetic agent, she couldn't really complaint about it. She placed her carefully near them, Vera picking her up over her shoulder.

Her body started to steam, while she pulled herself out of it, she freed herself from the meat that had her connected to the massive form and jumped down, falling ungracefully on the grass. Breathing heavily she stood up and walked to her companions.

Bert offered her his shoulder as she was obviously having trouble keeping her balance, but she refused it as she kept walking under the soaking rain.

"Did you found her?" Bert asked suddenly.

Annie was in no mood right now, she was tired, in pain and now soaked wet under the rain, but with a sigh she nodded in agreement.

"And?" he asked trying to look to her face, hidden behind her golden hair; that was now sticking to her skin because of the rain.

"She's dead." She replied coldly.

"I see." He replied with a sad tone of voice. "Thank you." He said.

She didn't pay any attention to his thanks, she could feel her head spinning, her legs ached and her stomach was in a knot.

They reached a tall house, two floors by the looks of it. She leaned against the wall clutching her stomach before throwing up, she still hadn't had anything to eat so she spat saliva and bile again, this time a little blood was mixed with it, she knelt trying to regain her breath, but collapsed unconscious on the wooden floor.

Reiner got close and checked on her. She was most likely exhausted, she shifted twice on one day, and she maintained that form for a long time. He picked her up easily and entered the house; examining the room he placed her on a couch near a window. Berthold walked up the stairs to check for anything they could use.

Vera placed Christa on another small couch just in front of Annie and walked towards what appeared to be a dinning room.

Eren sat on the floor on the house and took off his dripping jacket, placing it besides him as he tried to dry himself up. Vera walked near him dragging a chair along and slammed it on the ground taking Eren by surprise.

"We need to keep ourselves warm and dry our clothes." She stated simply as she gathered the pieces on the center and used her flint stone to light it up. She obviously had practice with that; it took her two tries to light the old wood.

"I found some supplies." Riener said walking out of the kitchen with a box full of cans. "I don't think everything is edible though. I see you started a fire." He placed the box on the floor and sat near the flames, warming his hands.

"Soup." Vera said taking a can from the box. "Chicken soup by the looks of it" She finished with a smile.

"I've got…beans." Reiner said disappointed.

"More beans." He said. Both Reiner and Vera let out a moan of disappointment.

They kept sorting out the supplies dumping anything that looked suspicious.

Bert came down the stairs with a huge grin carrying two bags on his back; he sat down placing them between him and Vera.

"You won't believe what I found." He opened one bag, revealing three rifles; Vera quickly snatched the rifles as she started to inspect them. She looked carefully at the rifle, before dismissing it; the trigger was rusted, and did not returned to its original position by itself. The second one had the same fate, the hammer was bent, and there was the risk of it misfiring. The third one however was in relatively good shape. The hammer worked fine, the trigger, despite being a bit hard was in good condition.

"What's on the other bag?" Reiner asked, still examining the cans.

"I though that when our gas is over we will still need something to fight, and I happened to find all these knives. Maybe we could use them to hunt for the time being." Bert replied.

Again Vera examined the knives testing the blades and weights, twirling them around her fingers, watching carefully how they moved. When she was done she placed them back on the bag with a smile. "Good knives." Was all she said, returning to examining the cans.

"Something on your mind Eren?" Reiner said putting the can aside.

"I just…was wondering who is she?" He replied softly, looking at the woman in front of him.

"Vera? Her family has served mine for some time now."

"Is she a…" he started.

"Shifter?" Reiner completed. "Yes she is."

Eren sat in silence looking at the flames twirling in front of him.

"What's the plan now?" Berthold asked getting up and looking out the window, checking there was no one coming.

"We are going to stay here until Annie recovers. She's probably not going to like it, but we need to be in top shape before we move out. It will give us time to maybe hunt something and organize our supplies."

Reiner pulled himself up walking over to Berthold offering to take the first watch, as unlikely as it was that they were followed, he wouldn't take any chances; Berthold would take the second watch, switching with Reiner again before dawn. Vera had the task to look over Christa and Annie making sure she didn't wake up and tried to escape and that Annie's condition didn't changed.

Vera positioned herself leaning on the couch Christa was in, as always playing with her knives.

Reiner watched carefully at the forest for any movement, the storm was still raging outside, the sky illuminated by the lightings. He hoped that the rain faded soon. He wanted to explore the surrounding houses for gear and supplies. But there was no point in thinking about it, they would have to wait and see what the weather had for them.

* * *

**So, stuff it's happening... I think, even though the story is supposed to be about Annie, it seems she is in somewhat of a second plane.**

**Things will get slow for the next chapters, depending on how I chose to do it.**

**Any reviews are helpful.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**-XY**


	5. Decisions

The sun was rising, painting the sky with an orange light, the storm had ended hours ago, and the smell of wet earth filled the air.

Reiner was standing hear the doorframe looking at the forest, he had gotten out a few hours ago, feeling a bit more confident in the cover of night, titan activity was slower during that time, his head was resting on the wall as his eyes started to close.

He was tired and sleepy, with a long yawn he stepped back inside, closing the door softly behind him and sitting on the floor, looking at everyone still sleeping he felt tempted to do the same, but he had to keep himself awake until someone else got up. It wasn't long before Berthold awakened, stretching his arms behind his back with audible cracks of his bones. Getting up he greeted his friend, who immediately let himself fall on the floor, falling asleep moments later.

I didn't take long before everyone else started to get up. Vera being the next one and then Eren, Annie shifted positions on the couch several times before sitting properly on it. Christa on the other hand seemed to still be under the effects of Annie's anesthetic.

Annie examined the room with half closed eyes, so that was the house they chose… it was nice, if you could ignore the cobwebs on the ceiling and the weird smell.

With a sigh she got up, stretching her body with audible groans. She still felt a little lightheaded, but she assumed that was because of the lack of food. Looking around she saw Chista, still sleeping, and Eren and Vera boiling water on a pot, on a fire in the middle of the room.

She managed to see Berthold through the window as he stood outside, and Reiner sleeping on the floor.

She untied her hair, letting it fall freely; Eren noticed it on the corner of his eye. It didn't look like it, but her hair was actually fairly long, covering the nape of her neck completely.

Moving her fingers through her hair she tied it again in its usual style and without saying a single word she sat near the boiling water to heat herself.

"We might go out hunting today." Vera said peeling some vegetables she found on the kitchen and throwing them into the pot.

"That so?" She replied without much interest.

"I was thinking you might want to come. It would be a good exercise."

Annie shrugged, actually she wouldn't mind hunting, it was one of the few things her father taught her that did not had to do with fighting or killing. Of course she would never admit to that.

There was a loud noise, Annie blushed as she realized the monstrous noise her stomach had made, hugging her knees and hiding her face behind them. "So what are you cooking?" Annie asked, her face still hidden.

Vera chuckled. "Nothing fancy. Vegetable soup, or it would be, if we had something apart potatoes and carrots. But it should be ready soon. After that we can go out and maybe get a deer or a couple rabbits."

Annie nodded

The morning passed by without any incident. Reiner woke up a after a few hours of sleep, near noon and all of them ate in silence, Vera saw to the task of feeding the blonde captive, who was still out cold.

"How long is she going to be like that? Berthold asked looking at Christa.

Annie shrugged. "I don't know. It tends to vary depending on the individual. Hours. Days." She said, eating calmly.

Everyone went through their own business, Annie just looked to everyone with bored eyes. She was still tired, though she feeling of a full stomach did felt good. She stood and walked around a bit before stepping outside, a mild breeze was blowing making her hair wave. Sitting on a large piece of rubble besides the house they were in, was Reiner, apparently thinking, given the serious look on his face. He seemed to notice his presence as he quickly turned his head and greeted her.

"So, Vera told me you're going hunting with her." He said jumping off the rubble in front of her.

She did not respond or move, only following his movements with her eyes.

"Just be careful." He said heading back to the house calling Bert's name.

Annie sighed, heading back inside to get ready.

* * *

In the end it was Berhold who left with Vera to hunt, as Annie claimed that she did not felt good enough to hunt with a simple shrug.

Reiner and Eren left to search the other houses, or as Annie put it, loot. Not that she minded the entire town had been abandoned for five years, anything that remained was of whoever seen it first.

She let out another long sight, looking how the small prisoner started to move. With a soft groan she stood up and grabbed a piece of rope, tying her arms and feet to restrain her movements if she woke up. Not that she couldn't subdue her physically, but why take the chance.

She heard the two boys entering, with a few boxes in hand filled with what appeared to be cans, probably food.

"One of the houses has a garden, there are a few vegetables we can take." Reiner stated with a happy tone. But raising an eyebrow when he noticed Christa tied up.

Annie shrugged again. "She started to move, she might wake up any time now."

She looked at Eren for a few moments, but he noticed dismissing the glare.

"You should practice more." Annie stated in her usual cold tone.

Eren had a confused look on his face; he obviously didn't knew what she was taking about.

Annie rolled her eyes. "The way you fight. You need practice. You've been slacking off."

Eren felt weird. Was she really scolding him for not fighting well enough?

"I remember taking you to the ground yesterday." He said triumphantly.

"I remember you hardened you skin instead of blocking and dodging like I taught you." She replied with an even colder tone. Making feel uneasy.

He didn't even notice when Annie got closer to him. "Come on, time to train." Annie said leaving the house, followed reluctantly by Eren; and Reiner, behind him, not wanting to miss the show.

Annie took her usual stance, as Eren did the same, one would think that after three years of having his ass kicked by her he would take a more defensive approach. Well, he didn't, he charged head on at her only to find himself staring at the sky, with Annie's foot on his neck.

"You're slow." She stated.

Allowing him to stand up she took a few steps back. He charged at her again, without to much thinking she dodged and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the ground, keeping lever on his arm as he tapped on the ground because of the pain.

Letting him go she noticed Bert and Vera returning. Bert was carrying a large bag, probably a deer, because of the antlers that were coming out of it.

She nearly had no time to react as Eren delivered another punch at her face, this time she blocked his her elbow. But received a hard punch on her stomach, knocking the air out of her, before any chance of counter attack was given. Eren grabbed her leg spinning it, on a submission hold.

"Only a few more seconds." Eren though, seeing Vera and Bert getting closer.

Of course Annie hadn't tapped out yet, she was too stubborn for that, instead he just started to slowly apply more pressure to his hold.

Annie gritted her teeth in response to the pain. She was face down on the ground she felt the pressure starting to raise. With the last of her strength she kicked his shin, making him loose balance, allowing her to roll and wrap her legs around his waist and pull him to the ground as she place her arm below his chin, adding pressure to his throat.

"Close…" she muttered adding more pressure.

It did not take long before Eren tapped and she released the hold. She stood, placing her hands on her hips looking down at him with a disappointed look.

"Guess we'll have to start over again." She sighed removing a single bang of hair form her face. Earning a laugh from Reiner.

There was no point in continuing; she was tired, still not fully recovered, she turned around and headed inside. Surprised when she saw Christa sitting trying to break her bonds.

The duo of hunters followed her, and looked at their captive, but ignored her as Annie was already heading her way.

They placed their trophy on the floor, near the almost burned out fire and started to cut it into pieces and covering it with salt.

She sat besides Christa in silence, looking at the ceiling. She could feel Christa's gaze on her; she turned her head and met her eyes.

"How do you feel?" she asked with her usual monotone voice.

She did not respond, which she expected. She took a deep breath as she started to explain why they took her, omitting the part of her killing Ymir, she told her what happened, when she was done she turned to see her.

"I guess it makes sense." She said.

Annie raised an eyebrow, she wasn't sure she was following.

"About my father being so protective about me. He knew you'd come for me right?"

"Not really, but I assume you would be welcome. Even if you can't shift." She said offering one of those occasional smiles Annie gave.

She agreed to cut the binds of her legs, but not of her hands, just yet, instead told her to rest.

Hours passed by as the deer was slowly cooked as the pieces laid above the fire, a sweet smell started to fill the house, probably because of the honey Vera put on some of those steaks.

"How long are we going to stay here?" Annie finally asked.

"Just tomorrow. Christa's up, that's good news. Did she agree to come with us?"

Annie shrugged "That seems to be the case."

Reiner nodded exited. "I'll talk to her tomorrow anyways." He finished before returning to what he was originally saying.

"I want to search the other houses before leaving; there might be useful stuff inside. If we stayed more time it would be dangerous, no doubt they'll send more troops after us." Reiner said with a relaxed expression.

Annie nodded, she agreed with him.

"Do you think you could shift?" Vera asked.

Annie shrugged. "Probably, I just need to rest."

"So how was the hunting?" Eren asked, trying to integrate himself to the conversation. Instead feeling uncomfortable as everyone's gaze fixed on him.

"Rather well." Vera said with a grin.

"We armed a few traps, we'll check them out in the morning." Berthold said using a stick to poke at the meat.

They started to eat, Reiner telling Eren about their village, usually followed a by remark from Bert or Vera, about something he left out in the excitement.

Annie was just listening, as usual, eating in silence, her eyes moving as they each speak up, Reiner tried to tease her up a little but Annie ignored him as she continued eating as if nothing happened.

Soon everyone fell asleep, hard to keep awake with a full stomach, she stayed awake for a about an hour before she decided to take some fresh air and clear her mind, there was a soft breeze blowing she closed her eyes taking deep breath, taking in as much air as she could.

The air out there was totally different than the air of the cities, fresh, and light.

She was thinking when something caught her attention though; she turned to see Eren slipping out the main door.

"Going somewhere?" she asked startling him.

She tilted her head. "Escaping?"

He charged at her without saying a word, she grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. Pushing him towards the door.

"You disappoint me, Eren. I though you wanted to come with us."

He charged again, both of them started a quick fight of grapples and locks on the floor, if anyone else had seen them, it would appear as if they were engaged in other activities.

She ended on top of him, holding both of his arms above his head with one of her hands, her hips keeping the rest of his body immobile.

"Why are you so stubborn?" she said angrily. "We're trying to help you."

"You are just helping yourselves. Calling yourself warriors, we were soldiers, we trusted you." He replied struggling on the floor.

"You think it's better to be soldier?" she asked. "Living a life of following orders, without knowing why you're doing that you're doing?"

Eren shifted his weight positioning himself above her, in the same position she held him. He looked at her with his eyes filled with anger, probably contained from yesterday.

"I chose that life."

Annie's gaze fixed on him without changing. "Well, we're offering you a better life. I though you understood that."

Noticing the lack of struggled from her he stood up. She did the same.

"Look, if you really want to leave and return to you old soldier life, then do it. I'll even tell everyone you knocked me out before I could react. But if you're at least curious of you full potential, then choose us, we will help you. You just need to trust us."

She did not said more; she stood there, looking at him, as if awaiting his answer.

Eren closed his eyes rubbing his temples. "Alright. I trust you."

Annie smiled softly. Turning around to head back inside. Behind her Eren was following, looking back at the forest, he was hoping, yet again, that he was making the right decisions.

* * *

**Slow chapter?**

**I think it was good, I don't think I made such a good job with Christa's reaction, well you'll tell me if I messed up, I'm sure of it xD**

**Eren had the chance to escape...and he didn't, holy crap.**

**I might be starting a pairing with this .-. I didn't wanted this story to have a pairing. Oh well, I'll do what I have to do for the sake of the story.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, I think I'll start working on my other story, so this one will take a brief pause.**

**So, thanks for reading, and take care. Oh yeah review...remember... REVIEW :D**

**-XY**


	6. Insight

"Another storm." Reiner said looking out the window as the heavy rain poured down from the sky.

"Really? What gave it away?" Annie said annoyed, she hadn't done anything all day.

"We will leave tomorrow, with or without rain. We can't afford to stay here any longer."

Eren, Christa and Berthold were already sleeping, moving slightly every time a thunder roared outside.

A lightning illuminated the sky and the inside of the room; the fire they had made was almost out, giving only heat on the cold night.

There was a noise outside, a noise too familiar to forget, it made Vera, Reiner and Annie get up in jump. Looking outside they saw four horses; two soldiers were standing besides them, keeping them calm the other two used their gear to get to the rooftops and check the area.

"Do you think they know we are here?" Reiner whispered.

"Doesn't matter." They heard from behind. "I'll take care of them." Vera said seriously, putting on a Scouting Legion cloak.

"Wait here. It won't take long."

With that she slowly opened the door, looking back at the two of them behind her, noticing their troubled expressions.

She gave them a soft smile. "Everything is going to be fine."

* * *

Then next morning eventually came, the rain had calmed down a bit, and Annie found herself rationing the supplies while everyone else worked on other stuff, she wasn't really paying attention.

She stepped out, the rain felt good on her face.

"Ready?" Reiner said tapping her on the shoulder.

She just shrugged.

"We'll be heading south, we wont' stop until nightfall."

She shrugged again. "Great another whole day shifted." She though

Without any objection Annie shifted, the all too familiar smell of flesh and vapor covering the area they were in, she knelt placing her hand on the ground, allowing them to climb. Once everyone was ready she started running, heading south, to the Shiganshina district and Eren's basement.

…

Night fell upon them, with no titan encounters; they could say it was a good day. Annie started to slow down, looking for a good place to spend the night. She was tired, so tired, her face did not showed it, though, and she would never admit it. Unlike last time there were on open field, no settlements in sight, there was however a small group of trees.

She let them out, before slipping out of her titan form, pulling her arms out of the steamy body of meat, and sliding of the back.

"We made good time." Reiner said smiling. " We should be there by noon tomorrow if we leave at first light."

"Won't there be titans there?" Eren asked.

Reiner gave the comment some though, he was right, they couldn't just march in there like nothing. He was about to say something when Annie beat him to it.

"There won't be a lot of them. They most likely moved to another place, why would they stay there? There's no one left." She said coldly.

Eren nodded slowly.

"Yeah well, let's eat something, and get some sleep. We have to be ready for tomorrow." Reiner said after a while.

* * *

"Sir, you need to see this." A soldier said.

"What is it?" the short captain said getting to where the soldier was standing.

In front of them laid four dead soldiers, with their eyes closed and their hands on placed on their chests.

"Guess we know why they didn't returned." He said sighting.

"And that titans did not killed them." Irvin Smith said stepping inside, the soldier around saluting him. "At ease."

He knelt examining the soldiers. "Precise cuts. Whoever did this, knew what he was doing. No doubt and no remorse. What do you make of this, Levi?"

"We are heading on the right direction." He said crossing his arms on his chest and leaning on the wall. "We need to be careful."

Smith nodded. "Take the bodies and send a party back to the city. The rest will continue. We need to find them."

"Eren did help them out." Levi said grimly.

Silence filled the room. "All the more reason to find him. Tell the men to get ready, we will move out soon."

* * *

Without any problems they reached the Shiganshina district, it did seemed the titans had completely left that area, luckily for them. All of them got to the ground, while Annie got out of her titan form.

The city was deserted, they moved carefully and in silence, everyone was keeping their eyes opened, making sure there were no titans nearby.

Annie stayed back, keeping the rear covered, ignoring the smell of old blood, and the bodies that lied half rotten across the streets. Somehow it made her feel as if they were looking at her.

She chuckled softly; she was starting to loose her mind. Ignoring the thoughts she focused on walking.

"Well, Eren. You're the guide now. Where to?" Reiner said leaning on a wall.

"I'm not sure, things look different. Now"

Annie rolled her eyes while Reiner and Berthold let out a sigh, clearly not too happy to hear that.

"Come on man, do you at least know where we are?" he asked.

Eren looked around for a while, as if looking for something.

"Well, if we turn right here we should arrive to the blacksmith shop." He said signaling the end of the street.

"Lead the way."

They started walking again following Eren's directions, and sure enough he did seem to know where he was going.

With the occasional blocked road or dead end they made their way though the destroyed city.

"Didn't knew the titans cause so much damage here." Vera said, trying to break the silence enveloping them.

"You guys should know." Eren said sharply.

"I wasn't here when it happened." Vera replied sitting down on a piece of rubble. "Can't we take a break? We've been walking for quite a while now."

There was not much to talk about; everyone seemed rather tense. The silence fell over them again.

"So...this training of yours. What's it about?" Eren said finally.

"Well, if our theories are correct and you're a complete shifter, you should be able to use all the abilities that are dispersed though our race. But we can't really be sure. You did hardened you skin when we fought several days ago. But that doesn't mean that you'll be able to crystalize like Annie. So it's really about seeing how you evolve."

"That doesn't explain much."

In the meantime Annie climbed a half demolish building to get a better look of the place. The rooftop was cracked, it seemed that it would collapse any second. On the distance she could see the smashed gate that allowed the titans to enter the district.

"Annie?" a voice said from behind. Startling her.

Turning around, she saw Christa standing behind her.

Annie gestured with her head, acknowledging her presence before continuing looking at the city.

"So, you're a shifter." Christa mumbled awkwardly, Annie just barely made out the words.

"Yes I am."

"Reiner said that my family used to live in your home village."

"That's right, they left after they were given the formula, or so they told us."

Annie said softly.

"I was wondering… could you teach how to do it?" she said placing her hands on her chest, taking a small step forward.

"Do what? Shift?" Annie asked, surprised of the request. Receiving a nod from the small blonde.

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Annie said placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What? Why?"

"The first shift is always comes by itself." She said picking her words.

Christa stared at her with a puzzled expression.

"I don't really remember much of my first shift, it…just happened. I do remember Reiner's shift though. It took my father and three others to stop him from demolishing the village." She said with a chuckle. "My point is; if haven't had your first shift, there is not much I can do. Do you even know if the formula was used?

"Not really."

"Then we will have to wait." Annie said, gently tapping her on the shoulder.

"But how does it happens? I mean. Something has to trigger it." They way she said it, gave Annie a peculiar feeling, as if she knew more than she was telling them.

"That's right. Shifting is a defense mechanism. That's why we have to hurt ourselves to change. Of course it would be problematic if every time you get a scratch you shifted. That's were the "goal" enters." She emphasized the point by making quotes with her fingers. "With a clear goal in mind, our body responds to the injury by changing.

"I see."

"Sorry I can't be of help." She said tapping her on the head with a soft smile.

"I admire your spirit though. Not much people would want to be like us."

There was a slight tremor, Annie and Christa both looked at each other in silence. Again the tremor, it was getting stronger. Christa signaled Annie to turn around.

Annie gritted her teeth at the view. A bunch of titans were making their way towards them from the gate. Without wasting any time she informed the guys on the street, moving quickly inside the demolished building. She jumped down a hole on the roof, followed by Christa, and knelt beside a window, looking outside, careful not to be seen by the titans.

The tremors got stronger until the titans started to pass by the buildings. Slowly, stopping occasionally, to look on the alleys for possible preys.

"They are not so dumb after all." Annie though.

She could see Reiner, signaling her to stay put from the building in front of them. With a quick move of her hand, she signaled Christa to move to the other room. She knew what they needed to do.

Both of them moved careful not to make any sudden moves that might attract the titan's attention, or to do any kind of noise. Leaning on the wall under the window.

"What do we do now?" the small blonde asked in a worried whisper.

"We wait until nightfall. It will be safer to move. I guess we're stuck here until then." Annie said with a sigh.

* * *

Time passed slowly, the titans moving around the buildings with slow and clumsy steps.

Reiner and the rest were hiding on the back of what appeared to be some kind of bar. While on the other building, Chista was surprised that Annie somehow managed to fell asleep. But it was to be expected, she had been shifted for some time the last few days; her head fell son Christa's shoulder.

Tapping her gently on the leg, Annie opened her eyes, straitening up while rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry. Must have fallen asleep." She mumbled lazily.

"Yes you did." Christa chuckled softy.

Annie got up, looking outside, to where the others were. She could not see them, but the sun was almost behind the wall, a few more hours. That was all.

She jerked back as a titan suddenly popped from under the building.

"Fuck. There are still titans outside? Why haven't they moved along like they always do?"

A large loud took noise got her attention, looking outside she noticed the titans following Reiner and the other. Clenching her fist she alerted Christa, they were moving out.

Using their gear they popped out of the building, maneuvering through the street, in a swift movement, Annie cut a titan's neck, making it fall over a building.

Another group of titans noticed them and headed their way, stumbling on each other as they tried to make their way on the narrow street,

Without too much though Annie headed to the large group, spinning around, killing the titan's without effort.

Christa was doing the same, as they tried to keep the titans at bay.

* * *

Looking back, Berthold noticed the titans were no longer following them.

"Guys, they are no longer after us."

"Looks like Annie and Christa are keeping them at bay." Vera said getting on top of a building. "Come on, we can't let them take all the credit."

She fired her hooks, heading to the direction of the titans.

"Come on guys!" Reiner yelled doing the same.

* * *

"Were are they coming from?" Annie though, slicing the neck of another titan. "There's just no end to them."

Changing her blades, she jumped back to action, maneuvering around the titans.

Christa was heading to a 15-meter, ready to take it out, when her cable jammed, sending her crashing to a wall.

As she recovered, a smaller titan grabbed her, picking her up. She struggled to break free, but she couldn't move her arms. As the titan slowly moved her to its mouth, Christa started to panic, as her eyes started to tear.

"Not like this. I will not die." Struggling harder to break free from the titan's firm grip. Getting slowly closer to the dark abyss. "No."

The titan closed its jaw, taking her legs, but at the same moment a large explosion roared, getting the attention of everyone.

As the smoke of the explosion faded a large figure started to take form.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Dun Dun DUUUUUUUUUN!**

**You probably know where this is headed.**

**Serious question now...how would you feel of a yuri pairing? You know since there is nothing planned and I can basically do whatever I want with the story xD Think about it.**

**So, hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

**Oh yeah... so, it might take a while to keep updating my The Fox and The Snake story... it's hard coming up with idead, cause, I know where a want to go with the story, but not how to get there. I'll work on it.**

**So, yeah that's all. Please leave a review if you feel like it, or if you want to point something out.**

**Take care.**

**-XY**


	7. Relief

"Where are they going?" as soldier asked climbing up a building using his gear.

Titans stopped paying them attention, and started to go away, all of them heading to the same direction.

"Isn't that the way to the Shiganshina District?" another one asked earning a nod from his teammates.

"We should inform the main party. Shoot a yellow flare."

In a few seconds one of the soldiers loaded the yellow flare on his gun and covering his ears he pulled the trigger, a thin line of yellow smoke started to rise until it exploded visibly on the sky. A few moments later they started to see more yellow flares exploding on the sky, the message was received.

They jumped down of the structure they were in and jumped into their horses, riding to meet with the rest of the expedition.

* * *

"Yellow flare?" Rivaille though, looking at the sky, while yellow flares exploded.

"What do you make of that, Rivaille?" Irwin asked, getting the corporal's attention.

"They are still within the wall, the most obvious guess is that they will try to escape through the Shiganshina District, we never seal that gate."

"Let's go, we are less than day behind them, we have to hurry up." Irwin said speeding up his horse, and changing the course to the district.

* * *

Smoke rose, with the all too familiar smell of hot flesh and blood, a figure started to take form as the smoke cleared, a titan, skinless, with long blond hair. The thing that shocked Annie the most, were the wing like things on her back. The new titan, straighten up, glaring at the titans in front of her. The ground rumbled with every step she took.

Reiner and the others arrived just in time to the how the Winged Titan sent a titan's head flying with a loud roar.

"Annie!" Reiner yelled. Maneuvering to where she was.

"What the hell happened?" she said looking at the titans being torn to pieces. "And what is that?"

"That's Christa." She responded replacing her dull blades and getting a shocked look from the group.

"Looks like she's a shifter too."

Reiner stood thinking about what they could do, letting out a heavy sigh.

"There's nothing to do now, let's just let her energy to run out."

Annie looked skeptically at him. "That never works with a first shift, you know that."

He shrugged "I'm hoping we don't have to cut her out, like Eren."

"That's one in a million." She spat out, angry at Reiner's ingenuity.

"All we can do now is wait, until she finishes with the titans, it should be easier to get her out then." Vera said sheathing her blades, sitting on the rooftop, ready to enjoy the show.

That seemed a good plan, but was discarded when Christa spread out her wings with an even louder roar, all the titans swarming her suddenly stopped, even they felt it, a sudden shiver ran though their bodies. All the titans started to devour each other even the ones at the distance by the gate.

The city filled with the sound of titans roaring and flesh being torn apart.

"Well that changes things." Vera said leaning forwards with a grin. "You know what to do."

Annie and Reiner looked at each other, and without a single word both of them jumped down, shifting and charging at her.

* * *

After several minutes of struggling Reiner managed to position himself over the Winged Titan, pressing with all his weight to keep her down, she certainly was stronger than she looked. And those damned wings, kept hitting him on the face, not that they did much damage to him, but damn it was annoying.

Annie opened her mouth, and dug her teeth on the tender flesh from Christa's neck, pulling her out, careful of not severing any limbs, and placed her slowly on the floor.

The three titans started to steam, while the two shifters pulled themselves out of their titan bodies.

"That wasn't so hard." Reiner laughed, jumping down to the floor.

"You're one to talk, I did all the work." Annie said pulling a strand of hair out of her face.

Reiner laughed it off, before suddenly getting serious.

"She killed them all."

"Looks like it. At any rate, we won't get anywhere while she's unconscious; this girl seriously likes to sleep. Let's find somewhere to rest, and we'll move out in the morning." Annie said, more like an order than suggestion.

Reiner nodded, picking up Christa and following Annie.

* * *

The fire illuminated the small room they were in; they entered an old bakery, and started up the ovens of the basement to keep them warm. Not they were all sitting in front of the oven, the shadows dancing behind them as the flames twirled.

"So…I turned into a titan?" Christa said.

"You did." Vera said "Good luck Annie and Reiner stopped you before you ran off, or ate any of us." She chuckled.

Christa chuckled nervously, still unsure of how to feel about it, she had hoped to be able to turn so she could help, but now that she knew that she was able to do it, she wasn't feeling to sure about it.

"At any rate, you ability was really impressive. I dare say every titan in the district is dead. That makes our work easier." Annie said lying down on the floor, placing her arm above her eyes to cover the light of the fire. "Now, you need to train." She started with a tired tone. "Train to fight, and to keep yourself in control when you shift." She let out a long yawn. "We can worry about that in the morning. I'm tired." She rolled on her side and closed her eyes.

* * *

"We're almost there." Eren said, leading the way through the alleys. They had to walk a lot, many of the streets and alley were blocked by large chunks of rocks and splintered wood, some building blocked several streets, forcing them to circle around them. They hadn't encountered a single titan yet, and there were no noises coming from anywhere.

The whole city was quiet, except for the occasional animal that found it's way inside after the titans took it. The sky was grey, with the sun hidden behind the clouds.

"There it is." Eren said after a few turns, signaling a destroyed house.

They entered looking at the place, there was not much left, everything that wasn't destroyed by the collapsing of the roof was scorched, the stairs that led down to the basements were blocked by a large wooden pillar; probably form the roof supports, and even though the wood was old, and somewhat rotten it was still hard to move it.

"Alright, we're almost there. Let's move this thing as see if the effort was worth." Reiner said moving below the pillar, trying to move it.

Christa and Berthold helped him, while Vera kept watch walking around the house inspecting the place.

Eren continued, walking around his former home, as his childhood memories returned to him. He didn't noticed Annie standing beside one of the buildings that were a few meters ahead.

He felt a surge of anger take over as he saw her, just standing there, with her usual expressionless face, like there was nothing wrong.

He walked up to where she was. "Do you feel something?" he said between his teeth.

There was no answer, which made him feel even angrier. He grabbed her from the shoulders, pinning her against a wall, out of sight from everyone else.

"Do you look at all this and feel nothing at all? You don't think about all the lives that were lost?" he said in an angry tone.

"Everyday." She said softly, looking away.

Annie wrapped her arms around herself and started crying in silence.

She closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming out. It was the first time Eren saw her express any kind of emotion, and now there she was, crying and sobbing. It was strange, and even though he was angry, he couldn't help but feel sorry about her.

"I want to stop feeling." She said between sobs. "I can see them, all the people that I've killed. I see them… every time I close my eyes." She gritted her teeth, holding the sobs, as her body trembled trying to stay on her feet, her knees gave in, being caught by Eren before she fell.

"It hurts too much. I'm too weak." she cried.

Annie clenched her fists grabbing his jacket and she cried on his chest, he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her.

"You're not weak." Eren said placing one hand on her head. That situation felt strange. When did he change from accusing her to comforting her? Still he felt that he had to do something, watching Annie on that state, was sad, and pitiable, borderline pathetic.

"I'm sorry. I just…want to go home, and forget about all this."

After a few minutes the sobbing stopped, as well as the shaking; she took a deep breath, letting go of his jacket and separating slowly from him, wiping the tears from her face with her arms.

"Are you, uh, okay?" Eren asked, getting only a nod in response.

"I'm sorry about that." She said softly, still not looking at him. "I don't' know what happened. I- uh, would appreciate that you don't mention this."

"I won't."

She gave him on of those smiles she occasionally showed, in her eyes he saw genuine appreciation, before her expression turned back to the usual stoic expression, and started to walk back to the others.

"Eren." She said. Making him turn around. "It may not seem like it, but I do trust you."

Eren blushed at the comment; luckily Annie didn't seemed to notice.

"Guys we've got company!" Vera shouted. Taking out her blades.

Out in the distance, soldiers of the scouting legions made their way towards them using the gear to move through the alleys and rooftops, a green black flare was shoot to the sky followed by several others in the distance. Signaling the rest of the expedition they had been found.

"Eren, help Reiner and Berthold with the beam blocking the entrance to the basement. Vera, keep Christa close to you, and protect the guys if any of them get past me."

She steadied herself; cutting her thumb with her ring with a loud explosion of vapor and heat she rose, ready to fight.

* * *

**It was a bit harder than I though. Meh, it was good. I liked writing this part.**

**I will do a drawing of Christa's Titan Form, so you can see better how it is. I'll probably upload it to my DeviantArt account, but I'll give you a link to it with the next chapter, if I do the drawing of course. (By drawing I mean a sketch-like drawing. Nothing too fancy.)**

**Annie has feelings, oh wow. :O **

**Does Reiner and Berthold feel the same way she does? Maybe they do.**

**And...I don't know. This story is very fun to write :D**

**Hope you liked the chapter and if you have any comments you're welcome to leave a review or send me a message.**

**Take care people.**

**-XY**


	8. Showdown

The soldiers headed towards Eren's wrecked house, maneuvering swiftly across the street. Annie stood high; ready to meet her enemies. Clenching her fists, she let out a loud roar, her blue eyes fixing on the nearest enemy, she ran to meet him.

Four soldiers positioned around her, one of them reeling in towards her neck while the others targeted the tendons of her feet.

Annie smiled, basic move. She stopped in her tracks, destroying part of the floor because of the momentum, and jumped pulling the two guys going for her ankles, landing on one of the guys, leaving him as a just a splatter of blood on the floor, in a single movement she crushed another against a building, and raising her hand, she caught the wire of a soldier in mid air, swinging him against the remaining one breaking both of them because of the impact.

"Wave one." She though, backing up to the others. Before hearing the sound of wires being reeled in. She didn't notice the two squads flanking her on foot while she fought, and now they were all going for her.

She spun her body, swinging her arms, to try to catch any soldier on her path, and destroying part of the buildings in the process, reducing their mobility.

The next few minutes were something close to a slaughter. It was obvious those were not experienced soldiers, if anything they had been on one or two tours outside the walls. Their movements were predictable; she could almost guess were to move her body to avoid being hit by the wires. A part of her felt sorry for them, they didn't stand a chance, whether they knew it or not was different, as they kept going for her. In a moment of distraction, one of her eyes was cut out, as she tried to crush one man on a nearby roof. It wasn't anything grave, in a few minutes it would be completely regenerated. But now with her vision reduced she took a defensive stand. Letting them move around her, as she waited, her eye smoking as it slowly regenerated.

The sky grew darker, in just a few minutes; the cool wind blowing, a loud thunder broke through the sound of reeling wires and the soldier's shouts. Rain started to pour down soaking everyone in seconds. She felt a pinch on the back of her neck, as an attack was finally made, too bad for him, it was useless, the attack came from her blind side, probably thinking that was giving him an advantage, she crystalized her skin, braking the blades the moment they came in contact with it. She lifted her hand grabbing him before he could get away, and squeezed him without second thoughts, painting her hand red with blood, but washed away by the rain.

"Now my turn."

She opened her eye, scanning the surroundings; the buildings gave the soldiers around her a movement advantage. It was time to take that advantage from them. Her arms crystalized, waving at the buildings the soldiers were standing, destroying them in big clouds of smoke.

As the smoke settled she lunged at a large group, slamming her fist on several soldiers. Immediately they moved away from her, Raising her arms she grabbed the wires of two soldiers, pulling them violently towards her, the mere pull was enough to kill one of them, while swinging both of them over her head, and throwing them towards a building.

* * *

"Come on guys. We don't have all day. Annie won't be able to hold them forever." Vera said loud enough for them to hear through the deafening rain.

"It's not than easy." Reiner spat out using all his strength to lift the beam a little.

"Well…you might want to hurry. Cause, here they come." Vera sheathed her blades, reaching to her back to pull out her knives from under the cloak and extending her arms, getting into stance as a group of soldiers ran towards her.

With a smile she ran to meet the soldiers, the sound of metal on metal as sparks jumped every time the swords collided. She moved to quick for the eye to keep up, even with the 3D gear strapped, she jumped and spun without any hint of trouble.

A blur was the most accurate way to describe he movements, as she killed soldier after soldier with blinding speed.

Her eyes wandered to the soldiers around her, sure they had numbers, but she has skill. Cutting the throat of a soldier with a single movement, and pushing his dead body to another, taking him of balance, allowing her to jump on top of him, stabbing him on the chest with both knives.

Raising her gaze she stood up, staring at the soldiers surrounding her as the rain cleaned her knives from the blood.

"Come one guys. It's been a while since I've had so much fun." She said with an off-putting grin.

* * *

"Why don't I just shift and remove the pillar?" Eren asked taking deep breaths.

"Because Annie is already taking all the heat, the moment you or me, or anyone shifts we become targets too. Now push!" Reiner said as all four of them pushed the pillar, moving only a little.

"Looks like they sent the entire military." Christa commented, taking a quick look outside. And it was partially true; they were members of the Military Police, Scouting Legion and Stationary Guard lying on the ground.

They took their positions again, pushing the pillar using all the strength they had, lifting slightly, and pulling it, making it finally fall over, clearing the path to the basement's door.

"We got it!" Reiner shouted to Vera.

"Good." She replied casually kicking a soldier out of the way. "Now hold the position until I finish."

"Okay. Christa, Eren, stay inside. Bert and I will take positions outside. We need to hold off until we can retreat to the basement." Reiner ordered.

Getting out to the rain, they got immediately soaked, their clothes sticking to their bodies in mere seconds, the place was a warzone, even with only Annie and Vera outside fighting, there were bodies piling up near them.

It was dark now, and there was no light because of the clouds covering the light of the moon and starts, still they could make out the figure of Annie several meters ahead and Vera fighting of the soldiers near the entrance with the light of the thunders in the sky.

* * *

They managed to repel the assault. Barely. Vera had a few cuts and bruises that were steaming as they healed; she was visibly tired, as she struggled to regain her breath. Annie's form was steaming as it melted away, once she pulled herself out. Rain kept falling, if something it was stronger than before.

Annie raised her gaze, closing her eyes as the water hit her face. Vera walked to where she was still holding her knives firmly on her hands.

"You okay?" Vera asked putting away the knives. "Come on, let's get out of this rain."

Annie nodded, too tired to formulate an answer. As they walked back Annie fell on the ground grabbing her shoulder.

"Annie! What happened?" Vera asked helping her up, placing Annie's arm around her shoulder.

"The bastards shot me." She spat, now running back, clutching her injured arm.

Annie's wound was starting to steam as the wound closed.

"Stop the healing. We need to remove the bullet or it will only cause trouble."

Annie nodded, and soon the wound stopped steaming, but blood was still coming out of it, reaching the house as a few more shots were heard in the distance.

"The path is clear." Berthold said once they were all under the vague protection of what remained of the roof.

"Good. It took you long enough." Annie said grabbing her bleeding shoulder.

"Come on, we can't wait any longer." Vera said pushing Eren in front of her and towards the door, almost making him fall down the stairs.

He removed the key from his neck, inserting it on the keyhole, unlocking the metal door and stepping in.

The room was pitch black at least until Vera lit up a torch, illuminating the large room, there were two doors on the other side of the room.

"Lock the door, Eren." Reiner said closing it behind him.

Annie fell to the ground, she was loosing blood, and outside they didn't notice as most of the blood was washed away.

Vera removed her jacket and shirt, so she could see better the injury. A small hole on her right shoulder, she turned her around, looking for an exit wound, not seeing one it was obvious the bullet was still inside. The wound was bleeding profusely, even though it was small.

"I need you to hold her arms." Vera said quickly. "She won't like what I'm about to do.

Reiner and Berthold held her arms to the ground while Vera washed her hands with some water and pulled out some bandages. Focusing on Annie she dropped some water over her wound, the blood mixing with the water and flowing to the floor. She introduced her finger on the wound trying to find the bullet, making Annie squirm in pain; she moved her finger as carefully as she could, until she felt the bullet. A few moments passed before she removed her hand. And pulled out her knife.

"What are you going to do with that?" Eren asked nervously.

"The bullet is stuck, I need to cut her to get it out." The tone of her voice wasn't too reassuring.

"But you've done this before right?" Christa asked worried.

"Yeah… you could say that."

With deadly precision, she sunk the tip of the knife over Annie's shoulder, drawing more blood, and making her twitch, moving her arm to try and get free.

"Hold her steady!"

She moved the knife downward, cutting the flesh without problem. Making Annie squirm from the pain. Putting her fingers over the cut for a few seconds, as if thinking how to proceed, she introduced her fingers once again, ignoring the moans of pain from the blonde girl. Moving them quickly, she touched the metallic object stuck on her shoulder, she added another finger to grab the small metal ball; that luckily was still on one piece, and pulled it out.

Grabbing a piece of cloth and bandages she cleaned the wound the best she could, trying to stop the bleeding, she disposed of the bloody cloth, placing a clean one over the cut and bandaging it.

Annie stopped moving after she was done, her breathing returning to normal.

"This is the best I can do, given our current situation." Vera said, looking at her hands, stained with blood. "Look if there's any kind of bed or couch so she can get a better rest."

Christa walked through the room. Opening one of the doors on the far end.

"There are two beds on this room." She said opening the door completely.

"Good, let's move Annie to the room. And Eren, lock the door."

Eren did as instructed, while Berthold carefully picked Annie and carried her to the dark room, being illuminated now only by a torch hanging from the wall.

With the door locked, and Annie on a stable condition, they lit a fire on a corner of the room, agreeing in getting some rest to start searching the place on the morning.

* * *

**Another chapter done.**

**Hope you liked it. I haven't draw Christa's Titan Form yet, but when I do I'll make sure to let you know.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**-XY**


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